Last week I was invited to an event at Whole Foods Cambie St. location. It was really about healthy eating and nutrition and Whole Foods “Health Starts Here” program…which is amazing!! Basically all the food made by Whole Foods will focus on having minimal salt, no refined sugar, only whole grains, and no refined oils. The program is rooted in 4 basic ideas- eat whole unprocessed foods,  eat a colourful variety of plants, eat healthy fats, and eat nutrient dense foods. I think it’s awesome to see an entire chain of stores taking this much effort to promote healthy eating. It’s so important!!

The evening started with a healthy smoothie as we walked through the door for all of us bloggers. There was plenty of food including this healthier banana bread, brownie bites, two kinds of pizza, lettuce wraps and more!

These brownie bites are sweetened with date paste only.

Obviously all of this lovely food was served on eco-friendly bamboo plates.

These pizzas use an oil-free crust...the secret? Vegetable stock!

The main event was Whole Foods Senior Global Chef Derek Sarno’s demonstration. The topic of the night was his Wellness Bowls O’ Goodness. The idea was to create a bowl featuring a healthy grain, a protein, veggies, and a combination of delicious herbs/spices/sauce. These make up a nutrition-packed and filling meal. Chef Derek made a couple of bowls- one was made up of chicken, barley, black beans, onion and cilantro.

The 2nd bowl was an Asian-inspired one. It featured a mixture of brown and wild rice, edamame, steamed broccoli and brussel sprouts, onion, mint, bean sprouts, mushroom crusted tofu, tamari, coconut water, and fresh ginger. How can you resist!!?

Chef Sarno is also a big fan of kale (me too!!!!). He made a simple massaged kale salad using lime juice and avocado.

Chef Sarno in action

A great event for a great program I also had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer from Sweet On Veg for the first time in person! She was the lucky winner of a Vita-Mix that night- congrats Jennifer!!